Armedia

For information technology workers in the government sector, the cloud computing initiative is no new news, though understanding the unique implications of cloud computing challenges may be. The goals of the initiative were to leverage federal cloud computing in order to reduce waste, increase efficiency, and cut costs for the federal government. This without a doubt meant that massive changes had to take place in government it solutions. Data consolidation has taken off, as the Obama administration aims to cut the federal budget through the consolidation of 800 of the government’s data centers by 2015, a move that is projected to save more than $3 billion while simultaneously freeing up acres of real estate.

Throughout the development of this massive initiative, concerns that are unique to federal agencies have started to become clear to information technology professionals. In a statement made by Dr. David McClure, Associate Administrator, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technology, at an April 2011 Senate Subcommittee Hearing, McClure stated: there continues to be a need for more thorough understanding of cloud computing deployment models, unique needs related to the security of cloud computing, and data management challenges.

This three post series will focus on highlighting the concerns within each of those three umbrella categories of concern. For now, lets talk about the cloud computing deployment models.

Cloud computing is defined to have several deployment models, each of which has specific trade-offs for agencies which are migrating services and operations to cloud based environments. Because of the different characteristics and trade-offs of the various cloud computing deployment models, it is important the agency IT professionals have a clear understanding of their agency’s specific needs as well as how the various systems can help them meet these needs.

Cloud Computing Deployment Models:

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